Jail sentences for mugger gang caught on CCTV

Three muggers who surrounded a teenager near Eyre Square late one night and robbed his wallet before walking off laughing received varying sentences at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.

Alan King (29), 2 Clifton House Apartments, Gaelcarrig Park, Galway;

Brian Noone (33), with a former address at Bluebell Woods, Maree Road, Oranmore; and Gill O’Connell(22), 15 Rahoon Road, Shantalla, all pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court last January to robbing €20 cash from a 19-year-old student at William Street on July 8 last year.

Sergeant Brendan Moore told the men’s sentence hearing in March that he and other Gardai were monitoring the Garda CCTV street cameras at around 3.30am when they noticed three men acting suspiciously.

They followed the men’s movements on camera and saw them crowd around a youth on William Street, who had become isolated from his friends.

“We zoomed in the camera.  The images on the cameras are crystal clear and we could see King catch the victim by the throat, while O’Connell put his hands into his pockets and took out his wallet.

“Noone kept talking to the injured party all the time.  They all then walked away, laughing at him,” Sgt. Moore explained.

Gardai, he said, then went to Eyre Square where they spoke to the three men.  They all denied any involvement in the robbery and were arrested.

Other Gardai caught up with the victim in Shop Street.  He was upset and distressed at what had happened to him.

Sgt Moore said the victim, who was not in court, was a native of Galway attending college in Dublin.  He had felt quite intimidated at the time but was now getting on with his life and wanted to put the incident behind him.

King, he said, had several previous convictions committed between 2003 and 2012, for assaults, serious assaults, obstructing a Garda, and one for robbery in 2006, for which  he had received a three-year suspended sentence in 2008.

Noone, he said, had two previous for road traffic offences and he believed he was genuinely sorry for his involvement in the robbery.

O’Connell had 15 previous for Public Order offences, criminal damage, obstructing a Garda, theft and handling stolen property.

Ms Deirdre Browne BL, who represented Noone, said he was a father himself and he had brought €2,000 to court for the young victim as a token of his remorse.

She said her client had been deeply affected by what he and the others had done that night.

Brendan Browne, BL, who represented King, said his client was sorry for his actions on the night, too.

“People tend to feel sorry for what they did when faced with a jail sentence,” Judge McCabe observed at the time.

Ms Geri Silke, BL, said her client, Gill O’Connell, had addiction issues which he needed to resolve and he was hoping to get into Cuain Mhuire treatment centre.

Sentence was adjourned to May and was adjourned again then to this week’s court for the preparation of final reports on all three.

Noone, the court heard, had not come to adverse Garda attention since and the victim had indicated in the interim that he was willing to accept the €2,000 Noone wanted to him give him as a token of his remorse.

Judge McCabe sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended for five years.

He said King’s involvement merited a two-year sentence also.

However, a probation report handed into court recommended he continue under the supervision of the service for the next nine months as there were still concerns with certain issues.  It also recommended he remain alcohol-free, continue with counselling, and not come to adverse Garda attention.

Judge McCabe warned King he was looking at a two-year sentence and the extent to which he served that sentence, depended on how he got on over the next nine months.

He then adjourned sentence in his case to next June.

Hearing O’Connell had come to adverse Garda attention on several occasions while awaiting sentence for this offence and had struggled to engage with the probation service or treatment services, Judge McCabe said he was the “author of his own misfortune” and there was no point prolonging the matter as there was little likelihood of rehabilitation.

He sentenced him to two years in prison with the final year suspended for five years, explaining that the sentence comprised a deterrent and an incentive to him get his life back together.